A Frozen Kurse
by 800M23
Summary: After trying to forget the past, but still being pained by emotional scars, Fox McCloud runs into a very dangerous person.
1. Chapter 1

**A Frozen Kurse**

**Chapter 1:**

_The Partridge in the Pear Tree_

_And it feels, and it feels like_

_Heaven's so far away._

_And it stings, yeah it stings now_

_The world has grown cold_

_Now that you've gone away._

_The Offspring: Gone Away_

If Fox McCloud knew anything, it was that there was a time to move on. His target had obviously gotten away. Whoever this guy was, he was fast to be able outrun Fox. The orange vulpine knew that it would be harder to get a situation where he would be able to perform the hit without getting himself into trouble.

Fox holstered his blaster and turned away from the street he'd seen his target, a white rabbit, cross before hopping into a car and speeding off. This was going to be an exhausting next week of planning. As it was, he was already sick of being on this planet. Kew wasn't exactly the most friendly of places to be. Now he would have to plan another attempt on top of being stuck on this shit ball.

He sighed as he made his way back to his hotel. It was a nice establishment. Thirty stories, an outdoor pool, and the most spacious rooms on the planet made it fairly expensive, but Fox knew that money was the least of his problems. He hadn't gotten into bounty hunting for financial help. He'd done it to keep his mind off of the past.

"No. I'm not thinking back about that again. She's gone." he growled at himself through gritted teeth. It wasn't exactly easy to forget the part of his life with Star Fox. It was a happier time for him. Now he would feel lucky if he fell asleep one night and didn't wake up. The only reason he hadn't pulled the trigger on himself yet was that he had always believed in dealing with his problems, and that seemed more like running away from them.

He made his way through the rotating doors of the Away Home Hotel and into the red carpeted lobby. Most animals would have stopped to wonder in awe at the intricacies of the artwork sculpted into the golden ceiling, but for Fox it may as well have been a log cabin. No beauty was worth looking at without her next to him to enjoy it. Animals crowded the lobby. Several bumped into him, casting angry looks back at the inconsiderate jerk who would dare push them. Others gave him a curious look, like they had seen him somewhere before. Fox had to smile at this. He looked different enough that he doubted any of his friends would recognize him. The white tuft of hair on his head now hung past his neck in a ponytail. Several scars adorned his forearms, making him look almost as if they had been sewn together. He hadn't been unfit when he was on the Great Fox, but he was much stockier now. He had loved the final touch he had put on to mask who he was. A pair of obsidian shades sat in front of his eyes. People had always said he looked like his father in them, but now the similarity vanished when combined with the other changes.

Fox walked towards the elevator at the other end of the lobby. He just wanted to get to his room and be at peace, but these idiots were crowding the lobby and blocking anyone from moving. If they would all just calm the hell down, they would be able to get out much more quickly, but being the selfish creatures they were, they all shoved and pushed to be first to the counter. He often felt sick that he had risked his life to save these kinds of people. He could only be glad that he was no longer in that kind of work.

After finally reaching the elevator, Fox hit the button for the twenty ninth floor and fell back on the wall of the lift. The day had been long, and he was pissed off. There was nothing he wouldn't do at this point to get back to his room. As the elevator slowly rose towards its destination he thought back to another time in he had been in an elevator.

She had been there with him. They were holding hands. The sweat trickled down his back at an alarming rate, but as always, she seemed as calm as ever. He didn't know why being close to her only seemed to affect him. Even after their relationship had started he wasn't able to talk to her without blushing and now wasn't any different. He felt even more nervous about what he was going to say now. It wasn't just idle conversation either. The blue vixen next to him looked over at him. Those eyes had always helped him find peace. They were so much like her fur. They were unusually blue. So blue in fact, that he had to wonder if there was ever another pair like them, or ever would be. He doubted it. She smiled. He couldn't help it anymore. He moved in closer to her. They were only a hair's breadth apart.

He slowly whispered three words to her. Her smile grew wider and her eyes became brighter as she responded with seven words.

"I love you."

"I know, and I love you too."

Fox shook his head clear of the memories.

"I said I'm not gonna think about it again. You remember what you did after that? You left her behind. You forced her into the arms of that fucking creep. She hates you now. Forget about it."

He stood up again as the elevator slowed to a halt. The doors opened to a hallway lined with green doors. He hated the color. It wasn't a color meant for interior decoration. He made his way down to the seventh door in the hallway. He pulled out the key and slid it through the lock on the door. The room inside was a good size. The only thing bigger was the penthouse above him, but that would be too big of a target for any snipers. He knew better than that. The kitchen it came with had a fridge big enough to hold over a weeks worth of food and an oven that could probably roast a turkey whole. He didn't know, he hadn't tried yet. The shower in the bathroom was meant for two people, but it suited him just fine. The bed was also meant for a couple, but he used the extra space so that when he tossed and turned in his sleep from his nightmares he wouldn't fall out. The room was nice, but it made him sigh. It was meant for couples. The whole thing was for two people who loved each other. It seemed that no matter where he went he couldn't escape those thoughts.

One thing he did like though was the window. It was a long CEO style window covering the top half of the wall next to the bed. He could pull the shades over it if he felt uncomfortable, but the view over the city was something he could enjoy, even if this city had a completely different feel when he was down on the streets at night. Down there it was an ocean filled with sharks who had caught a scent of blood, but up here it was a manufactured rainforest of stone, metal, and lights. He couldn't help but stand and admire the beauty of it all.

On top of a sky scraper, a dark figure angled a spotter scope downwards. The animal holding the scope grinned. Through the scope they could see what they were looking for. The vulpine they were watching had chosen a good room. Not as conspicuous as the penthouses, but not so obvious as a ground level floor. Hiding just under the top. He was enjoying the view he had right now.

Even the stalker had to admit, what the fox was seeing must have been impressive. Not many animals could afford to get a room with that overlook of the city. She had to wonder who this was and what he did to have enough money to pay for the room. Her eyes closed tightly as she noticed who he looked like, not for the first time.

"No. You left. It's over. You can't keep thinking about it. That's not him."

Kursed sat down with her scope. Usually she would have brought her rifle along with her, but she had heard from her employer when she got the job that this hit was particularly clever. She had decided that it might be best to study his movements for awhile before taking him out. A sure kill was better than a quick one. She knew he'd be here for another week at the least. He had been chasing a white rabbit, but with Kursed's help, the rabbit had gotten away. She could keep him here for at least another two weeks if she had to, and that was more than enough time. She would take her time with this. The pay on this bounty was much too high to mess up. She looked through the scope and continued to watch as the target slowly made his way to the left of the window. He reached for something out of sight, but stopped. He turned his head so that he was looking right up at her and waved with a large grin on his face before he flicked a switch, turning the glass opaque.

"Fuck!" Kursed swore loudly. She switched the lenses on her scope to thermal only to find that the glass was outputting enough heat to block it. X-ray didn't work either, as it seemed that the glass was integrated with lead molecules. She wouldn't be seeing anything else tonight, and now he knew she was watching him. She would have to be fast. Kursed folded her scope up and placed it in the pack on her back before backing up into a crouching position. She took a deep breath before sprinting forward to the edge of the tower. With all the strength in her legs she pushed off from the edge.

Fox lay back onto his bed. Whoever was watching him would either run off and prepare for another day, or be in his room within the next three minutes. He planned to be there to meet them. If he died, then he would have nothing left to worry about anymore. He wasn't scared of anything any hit man would bring against him. He pulled out a photo. It was the last one he owned anymore, and he kept it in a place no one would ever guess to look. One of the pads on his paw was covered by a section of material that looked and felt the same as a pad should, but actually formed a pocket over his real paw. He had been captured before, and stripped of everything they could find on him. They never found the Hakurz chip or the photo he kept in that flap. He studied the photo. He was standing on a beach with her. She was laughing and holding her hand up in a "peace" gesture while he was kissing her hair. It was one of the most fun days either of them had had in their lives. He flipped it over. On the back there was a small sentence scribbled there.

"A nucc doloh cok we." he breathed. It described his pain more perfectly than anything else as he slid the photo back into the secret pocket on his paw. He instead slid his hand under his pillow. He felt the warm handle of the weapon underneath. He was ready for whatever would come at him now.

The sound of a glass chandelier falling from a ceiling reached his ears as he looked back to the window to see a blue fox with purple hair come out of a roll after smashing through his window. He had his gun up before she did, but he didn't fire. For a moment, she looked like…

He didn't get a chance to finish his thought though as he felt the sharp pain in his neck.

"So this is the price of hesitating to shoot, huh?" he laughed before everything faded to black.

_**A/N: Hello again. So this story is something I'm going to use to distract myself from The Original Models with. When I don't feel like writing that story, I'll write this one. I'll give this one a few days before I get the next chapter up. That's right! I'll actually have something done **__**ON TIME!**__** BTW, does anyone else think that Kursed should have a seperate character category from Krystal? I know they're the same person, but it would be a lot easier to find stories revolving around that idea than to check every F/K story to see if it involves Kursed. Just my thought. Alright, R&R.**_

_**-800M23**_

_**Oh, and just because I feel like saying it, I sharpened my nails into claws. It's kinda cool. And now you all think I'm a freak. lol, cya.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**A Frozen Kurse**

**Chapter 2:**

_A Xihk 0ei (And it Feels so Good)_

Ich tu' dir weh.

Tut mir nicht Leid!

Es tut dir gut.

Hör wie es schreit!

Du bist das Schiff, ich der Kapitän

Wohin soll denn die Reise geh'n?

Ich seh' im Spiegel dein Gesicht

Du liebst mich denn ich lieb' dich nicht

Rammstein: Ich Tu Dir Weh

He could see nothing. It was dark. It was not here. It was not there. Where was he? Fox couldn't tell if he was dead or not. Was it possible that this was the afterlife that he was destined for? It seemed unbearable. He would be here for an eternity seeing nothing but the smothering dark, hearing nothing, not even his own voice, and feeling nothing. He would remain here forever. Then he felt a sharp yank on his neck. Instinctively he reached for his neck only to remember that he didn't have a neck to reach for. Wait, that couldn't be right. How could he feel pain in his neck if he didn't have one? He tried to lift his arms to feel a tight pressure against his wrists. He tested his legs and felt a similar result. If he could feel these things, then he knew he wasn't dead. His thoughts were confirmed when he felt a tearing sensation across his face and his eyes were freed of a bandage covering them. The dim lighting in the cramped space was still enough to make his head spin.

As he slowly adjusted his vision to the scene before him, he took in details of his surroundings. He seemed to be in a metal prison cell. There were no windows. The room was bathed in a soft purple light, making it seem almost alien. He could tell he was on board a ship. The engines let off a familiar hum as he sat there in otherwise silent contemplation. He remembered the sting in his neck, and that he had tried to move to feel it. He looked down at himself to see that he was tied tightly to a chair. He took a deep breath.

"Might as well wait for whoever got me here." he sighed.

"My, my, you're a smart one." He heard a voice behind him. It sounded cold and pained, like it had once been used to laugh, but now rarely saw an opportunity to perform that function. It sounded almost…familiar. "Most would have attempted to escape and worn themselves out. You seem to understand the idea of conserving energy." Fox attempted to look around him for the source of the voice, but whoever was there was standing behind him out of his field of vision. His head couldn't turn that far. "You're probably feeling a little too much pain in that neck of yours from where I yanked out the dart from earlier to be able to turn and see me. Don't worry; I'm sure we'll get well enough acquainted."

"So I don't even get to meet my host? How rude. I had hoped for a little hospitality for a guest." Fox decided that it would probably be best to play this game his captor seemed to be going with. If they wanted to feign conversational interest, then he would too. "A name would be nice at the very least."

"The same could be asked of you." responded the voice. "I will make a deal with you however. Give me your name, and I promise that I will give you mine." Fox thought for a moment. Giving his real name seemed unhelpful. It would be safer to go by a pseudonym.

"I'm called Illicit." He had liked the name anyways. It fit him. The voice, however, seemed disappointed.

"A shame that I cannot trust you Mr. Illicit. I'll call you by that if you are so sure you don't want to give me your real name, but I can tell when you are lying." He could imagine a figure shaking its head in disapproval. He wasn't expecting that to be caught so easily.

"You're really good at that, kinda like someone else I know…" he muttered.

"Of course I am. Anyways, I am still willing to tell you my name despite your attempt at trickery. You may call me Kursed." Fox immediately sat up straight in his bonds. His ears perked up and his eyes widened. If he was caught by her, then he didn't have a very good chance of escaping. Kursed was known throughout the system as a bounty hunter with no equal. She had a reputation for "playing with her food before she ate it" as well. Still, he was alive for the moment, so he could take that as a sign that he wasn't going to be killed, or a sign that he was being kept for torture. Either way, it meant that he at least had a little time to try and get out. He decided to play it safe and continue the charade of manners.

"I was unaware that I was in the possession of one so well known. Forgive me, but I think I must continue to go by that moniker. You of all people can understand the need to not use a real name. After all, Kursed isn't what your parents named you I'm guessing. And don't try to deny that. Even the cold blooded Kursed had parents. Everything does." He knew he'd hit a nerve their. No one liked having their parents brought into a conversation. As he sat there, he felt a slight prick in the side of his neck. The blue furred vixen he had seen earlier before he had been tranqued stepped in front of him holding a knife to his neck. Her purple bangs only partially covered the cold orbs that glared into his soul. They shared the same quality as her voice. They looked as though they had lost something long ago that had made them sparkle. Now they shined with an intensity that would crack stone.

"Believe me when I say Mr. Illicit, that if you know who I am, then you know that it is unwise to make light of such a delicate subject." Fox only laughed at her threat.

"Kursed, since it is obvious I know who you are, I also know about your 'preferred methods'. If I'm going to die at your hands, I know it won't be pleasant. I sincerely doubt that it would be any less painful because I'm able to find humor in my situation."

"Ah, but this would really only apply if I was going to kill you. My job is to bring you to a drop off point, wait there, and deliver you to my employer. He did mention a hope that you would be undamaged when I hand you over, but if you give me too much trouble, I might decide that your pain is worth more than the extra money would be." She let the knife fall away from his throat. She stepped behind him again, out of his sight. Not being able to see her made Fox nervous. He felt that it was probably never a good idea to have his back to her.

"Mr. Illicit, I'm going to ask you one more question before I go back to the bridge of my ship." He felt her breath on the back of his neck as she slowly spoke into his ear. There was something disturbing about her tone now. She sounded happy.

"Are you afraid of me?"

"Well," began the orange vulpine. "I wouldn't exactly say that this is the most comfortable of situations. But I wouldn't say I have a whole lot left to be afraid of, so no." He could almost feel her smile.

"Wrong answer."

A sharp prick jerked Fox's attention to his right arm to see a syringe filled with an orange solution being drained into his veins.

"Beautiful isn't it? I designed this myself." Fox tried to respond but found himself unable to move his jaw or tongue. "Don't bother trying to move, love. The first part is a paralytic. You won't be moving for a little while now. But that's the boring part. You'll love what the next few parts do. There is a fair amount of pain inducing neurotoxin in my little creation. For the next three hours you will feel what it's like to be eaten alive from the inside. One of the most interesting facts about this mixture is that it can only leave the system through excessive vomiting, so you'll need to be cleaned later. I won't have some vomit covered vermin in my ship. Of course, that will make you hungry, but I'm afraid I need food more than you do. I am very sorry, but it looks like you are about to have a rough night.' Though she said it, Fox could detect no sympathy in her voice. He had no choice but to brace himself for the oncoming pain. "Sweet dreams love, if you fall asleep of course. It has a stimulant in it as well that should keep you from falling unconscious." With one last cackle, Kursed opened the door to the cell and left. Immediately the lights shut off, leaving the vulpine with no light. In the darkness, he usually felt safe. He could slip through the night undetected in the darkness. Or he could sleep in the comfort of a bed with darkness. This was different though. Fox McCloud rarely ever felt fear anymore, but this room had achieved that thing that countless of soldiers, monsters, and tyrants had tried and failed to do. He was afraid. What kind of creature was this that could bring him so low?

Suddenly, Fox felt a slight pinch in his chest. It wasn't excruciating, but he noticed it. Then it began to build. It spread across his body like a dark plant reaching its roots into every source of water it could. Every bit of his body was tingling in this unpleasant manner. It didn't really hurt yet, but he knew what would happen next. Kursed's injection didn't disappoint him either.

The pinching feeling throughout his body slowly grew. It became a needling sensation, then it felt like razors were sliding across the underside of his skin. With every step up of pain, Fox gasped. How could he take three hours of this? Then he felt something Kursed did not explain. He had been paralyzed with his eyes open. He could not shut them. The air began to dry them and slowly his vision clouded as tears raced out of their ducts in an attempt to moisten his eyes.

Finally the pain inside him reached a peak of burning. He could not move his jaw, but he still screamed though clenched teeth. He screamed and screamed and screamed, but he knew that there was only one other person who would hear him, and she was enjoying every exquisite moment of the tortured sounds he made. The seconds ticked away slowly, and he could feel his throat being torn by the force of his wails. He didn't care though. He couldn't care. His whole being was focused on the feeling of his eyes shriveling in their sockets, the inferno that raged within his body, and the next two and a half hours that awaited him. There was no room for emotion, for thought, even for hope. He was going to die from this. There was no way he could survive agony of this caliber. Maybe if he died it would be better anyways. He wouldn't feel this pain anymore, and Kursed wouldn't get her pay. He wouldn't try to fight it if he felt death slip over him. He just wanted the pain to end.

Unfortunately, he wasn't to get any relief. Kursed had been true to her word. The injection she had synthesized worked. The stimulant kept him wide awake for the whole process. He would get no reprieve from unconsciousness, and the dose wasn't lethal. He could only sit in his chair and endure the torture.

Then, as quickly as the pain came, it receded. Fox found that he was still unable to move, but at least the burning had gone away. He was thankful to whatever deity had spared him further torment. What he didn't realize was that he was thanking Kursed, and she deserved no thanks for what she had actually done. As Fox finally began to calm down, the burning came back in full force. It took him off guard and hurt all the more for it. Had he been prepared for the pain, he might have been able to withstand it, but this was too much. It seemed that Kursed had designed the pain to come in waves to make its victim expect it at all times from then on. Fox's screams continued.

Another three waves left the prisoner exhausted. He could not think straight. The pain was gone, but he still feared it. It could come again. At any moment he expected to be wracked with the fire the serum had caused. The paralysis was beginning to wear off. His head now rested against his chest. He was too worn to look up. At least his eyes had closed. He doubted he would be able to see correctly for the next two days or so. Then he remembered what Kursed had said. The fluid would only leave his body through excessive vomiting. He groaned a little as he readied himself for the next half hour to come. If the paralysis was wearing off, then he didn't have much time left to wait.

His guess had been right. He at least was able to turn his head to the side to avoid covering himself in his own bile. He felt his stomach convulse and then a large amount of bloody chyme spattered the floor. He didn't have time to be repulsed by the abstract painting he had made on the floor however, as another bout made him wretch his previous meal and a fair amount of blood onto the floor again. He heaved again, but now there was nothing left to come up. He was reduced to dry heaving for another twenty minutes. The consistency of his vomiting left little time to breath. As a result he became light headed, and his skull throbbed until he thought it might burst. The pain from his convulsions made his eyes water again.

Finally, the wretching stopped. The serum had worked its way out of Fox. He sat there, bound to his chair, quivering from the memory of the past four hours. How many animals had Kursed tested that serum on to get the effects just right? She had to have tested this on several dozen at the very least. Fox thought about the other poor creatures that had spent their time in this room. The idea made him heave again, but still nothing came out.

The door slid open again, and the purple lights activated again. He could feel the sadistic pleasure radiating from Kursed as she took in the sight before her. There was blood and vomit all over the floor next to him. His eyes were tightly shut. The chair was actually rocking on the floor from his violent shaking. His fur was matted with sweat. She could tell she had done her job.

"Well now dear, did we have fun? I must say you screamed much louder then most of my other tests ever did. That means the serum finally works the way it should." She laughed as the vulpine in front of her only let out a pathetic whimper in response. "So did we learn anything?" she asked kindly, almost like a teacher who had just beaten her student would. "Let's see if you've figured out how this works." She walked behind him again. Her lips were just a hairsbreadth away from his ears again. She breathed out quietly as she spoke.

"Are you afraid of me?"

Fox nodded vigorously, not wanting the torture to begin again. He squeezed his eyes even tighter and tried to control his panicked breathing.

"Good. Now was that so hard? Now look, Mr. Illicit. We've reached the drop off point, but my employer says he may be a little late. We're going to get off this ship now. I trust you won't try anything stupid, so I'm going to cut your bonds. It would make it easier since I wouldn't be carrying you. But remember, if you make any sort of aggressive movement, or piss me off just a little too much, I have plenty of that serum left. I can even increase the dosage and double the time you spend in agony here in the dark. So do we have a deal?" She waited for a moment before Fox opened his mouth. His teeth were covered in the blood he had thrown up.

"Alright." he rasped. Kursed's face came into view again as she moved in front of him. She extended her claws and cut neatly down the side of the chair her captive was tied to, taking care not to cut him. The ropes fell away and Fox shakily stood up before falling forward. Kursed caught him before he could hit the ground.

"Splendid. I know you might have some trouble trying to walk right now, but that should wear off in a few moments. Now I'll get something warm for you to put on. It's rather cold where we are."

_**A/N: Here's the next chapter. I like it, personally. I hope you guys do to.**_

_**Anyways, I'm packing my computer tomorrow, so this is going to be my last update for awhile in all likelihood. Sorry. :..(..**_

_**-800M23**_


	3. Chapter 3

**A Frozen Kurse**

**Chapter 3:**

_Sweet dreams are made of these_

_Who am I to disagree?_

_Travel the world and the seven seas_

_Everybody's looking for something._

Fox stepped out of the portal doorway of the ship. He shivered. It was so cold out here.

"We're on Fichina aren't we?" he asked hopelessly.

"Again, your intelligence serves you well. Yes, we are. I brought you out here to show you something." Kursed gestured with her hand in a sweeping motion. "Take a look around you. What do you see?"

Fox looked. The place in front of him was barren. There was nothing but ice in every direction. It was so cold that the snow he saw wasn't actually snow. It was a storm of ice flakes. A hill sat before them with a slight opening where a small cave was. The essential message Kursed was conveying was clear though.

"I see nothing." he stated glumly.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Kursed. "Nothing. Nowhere for you to run and hide, no people to help you, no resources for you to live with. Your only hope of staying alive here is to stay with me. Ironic isn't it? So don't try running away."

The blue bounty hunter turned her hostage around and dragged him back into her ship. The sudden change of temperature made Fox slump a little. Even aboard a ship where he had endured so much pain, he had to agree with his captor. There would be no point in trying to escape now. Not yet anyways.

Kursed walked him back into the room where he had been tortured. The thought of the serum caused Fox to tense back up out of instinct. He could smell his own sweat in the room. Sweat, vomit, and blood. The scent hit him like a wall after being outside.

"I'll be back. I'm going to go let my contractor know that I'm at the drop off point with my target." said Kursed plainly. She smiled wickedly. "That's you by the way." She turned away and swung the door shut. Fox cringed as she laughed again. That laugh was a reminder that the one holding him was crazier than anyone he knew. She knew it too. It was the scariest thing about Kursed. She had truly embraced her insanity. Fox slumped against the wall and came to rest on the floor. What could he do? He had to get out somehow. He had heard stories about Kursed, and they all were nasty.

_Kursed, she tortures, she abuses, she gets in your head, she keeps you alive only as long as she wants to, her victims beg for death. God, she sounds like a demon out of a fucking nightmare. What can I do?_

Before he could ponder his options further, however, Fox felt a drop in the temperature. It was suddenly cold enough to see his breath. He then flinched as he heard a loud scream. It sounded like words. He listened closer.

"**Visbadw xocc! **Now? Why kxo **visb** now?"

Then he heard footsteps coming towards him. He quickly got up and retreated to the other side of the cell. The door burst open and a disgruntled Kursed stood in its way.

"Come on, we're getting out of here." she ordered.

"Why? Where are we going?"

"Don't ask questions, just do what I say!" she shouted. Fox decided it would be better for his state of health if he obeyed, so he quickly exited the room behind her. She opened a compartment in the wall and pulled out several supplies, including two heavy coats, a large box, a heat lamp, and what looked like handcuffs.

"The power is out on my ship. I've been meaning to get the generator repaired, but funds have been kind of low lately." she quipped. "We need to get to a place that's less exposed than my ship. There was a cave outside." She handed one of the coats to Fox and pulled the other one on herself. As Fox finished pulling his arms through the sleeves, Kursed whipped the hand cuffs up and onto his wrists.

"Those are shock bracelets. Someone as smart as you probably knows what they do. I've upped the voltage a little myself though. They were too tame before." She held up a small button and gave it an experimental squeeze. Immediately Fox fell to the ground and tensed up. "Good! They work. Now get up."

The vulpine struggled to his feet again. She hadn't been kidding when she said the voltage had been intensified. These cuffs could probably take down a bull without much effort. Kursed passed the box over to him. As she did so, she looked him dead in the eye before warning him.

"Be careful not to drop it. It contains our rations. If you do, fine, but expect a painful buzz coming from your wrists." Kursed herself grabbed the heat lamp and headed towards the door. As she approached the exit, she slipped the spherical device under one arm, and swung the hatch open. Before them lay the frozen wasteland of Fichina once more. "It's not going to get any warmer out there, Illicit. Let's get going."

The first step out was the worst for Fox. The cold air hit him like a wall. Wind whipped through his fur, the flakes it carried stung like blades. He had never liked this planet. Nothing on it appealed to him. It was empty, cold, and windy. The only life on the planet was a group of scientists at the equator who had come for research purposes. Other than that, this planet had no use to him. He continued on, cursing the planet and the weather, but being careful not to think about his captor.

_She knew when I lied about my name_. He thought. _She didn't know my real one, but she knew I was lying. Is she Cerenian? Her mind powers are weaker than Krystal's, but it might be safe to avoid some thoughts. She doesn't need to know everything._

The cave was just up ahead. The opening stretched out like the maw of some fanged creature, with icicles as teeth. Some looked long enough to impale Fox should they fall, but their bases seemed stable enough. Though he knew the cave was inanimate, Fox still felt like he was being swallowed up as he entered its darkness.

The cave dropped quickly, and then hooked to the right where it ended in a small room like space about four meters in diameter. The ceiling was fairly low though, at about two and a half meters.

"Here we are." said Kursed, making Fox jump. For a moment, he had forgotten she was with him. He had been too focused on the cave. He made a mental note not to be surprised by her again. "This is home for the next few days. Now to start unpacking. Give me the box, and you set up the lamp in the center of the room." Fox did as she said, and passed the box over in exchange for the heat lamp. He had used these devices before, and they were quite useful. Simply place it in the center of the room, activate the suspensor field to make it float, and it heats a small area around it. It was perfect for cold weather survival. Fox padded over to the middle of the cave and held the lamp in place. He pressed down on the activation button for the suspensor and immediately felt its warmth touch him.

"I know the heat is nice, but don't let it fool you into thinking your stay is going to be comfortable. I plan on making your life hell if you don't cooperate." Spoke Kursed. Fox spun around. She had slunk up behind him.

_Dammi__t_ he thought. _She did it again! Stay focused on her, she's dangerous_.

"Yes, I know." He submitted.

"Good. Now on the flip side, I don't have anything to gain from torturing you constantly, so just do what I say, and you'll be fine."

She handed him a sleeping pad. He took it and went to the back corner of the cave. As he lay down the pad, he took a moment to look at his captor. He hadn't been able to see her on the ship, and her entrance into his hotel room had left little time for ogling.

She seemed athletic. Her body was that of a well toned gymnast. Her full body suit outlined every muscle and line, and he could tell she would be nigh impossible to hit in a fight. The woman was of average height, and had longer purple hair down to the middle of her back. She was, truly, quite stunning, and Fox would have spent more time on this fact if she hadn't just made him endure the worst three hours of his life. Speaking of which, the vixen before him seemed almost bipolar. She had just gone from making him scream his lungs out, to being a near conversationalist. What was wrong with her?

"I can tell you have some questions" she began, shaking Fox from his mental assessments. "I'll be happy to talk to you in a moment. Just get in your bag, and lie down. You're of no use to me frozen solid." Fox hastily did as instructed. He had forgotten that she seemed empathic. It was a trait he had encountered in Krystal, but Krystal had been much more direct. He could guard against that. This seemed more passive, as if she heard what he was feeling instead of actively searching for it like his ex-wing mate.

As he snuggled into the bag attached to the pad, he felt a soft warmness creep through his extremities and into his chest. The bag was heated as well. It seemed that Kursed may not have been able to afford decent ship parts, but her survival gear was hardly sub par.

"So," started the bounty hunter across from him, "we're going to be here, and since I'm going to trade you off anyways, there's no point in being cold, if you'll excuse the pun. What do you want to know?"

"Who the hell are you?" Fox ejaculated. "What is wrong with you that you think it's okay to just bring me close to death and then sit down and have a chat? Next thing you know, we'll be at each other's throats, and then we'll be contemplating having kits. Do you have psychic powers? Is there anything I can do to convince you not to do this? Who's your employer? Why are you a bounty hunter?" It all came rushing forth. He wanted to know. She HAD to tell him.

"Okay, stop, stop." She interrupted. "When you first meet someone, you don't just ask their life story right away do you? You get to know them a bit first, right? So turn around and start again." Fox took a deep breath. Where do you begin when someone kidnaps you and ransoms you off?

"Well, to be honest, I'm a little at a loss for a starting point. Do you have any suggestions?" he offered. She smiled at him, this time though, there was something different. She was amused. She wasn't plotting on making him writhe on the floor in a pile of his own blood and vomit either, but she was genuinely laughing instead of her sadistic grins from earlier.

"I may have been sarcastic when stating your intelligence earlier, but that is a smart way of putting that. Very well, a good place is probably, why talk to your kidnapper at all? Shouldn't you spend all of your energy focusing on how to escape? Well, you can ignore me if you want. You might regret it, but you can think whatever you want. Go ahead and plan dramatic escapes. I garauntee you though, you won't do it. The truth is, we're going o be here a while, so we might as well make it less tedious while we wait. So that's why I plan on talking with you a fair bit."

Fox contemplated this. She had a fair point. He couldn't escape at this point. There was no where he could go. His best chance now was to wait it out. While he was doing that though, what could he do? Kursed had brought a solution to the table, and its alternative was that he remain paralyzed and screaming in a chair for the majority of his stay. Given the choice, this side seemed better.

"So I've started us off, so it's only fair that you keep this going." The hostage pondered for a moment.

""Who are you working for?" He asked. It was worth a shot.

"I honestly don't know." Shrugged the vixen. "I got a call from someone calling themselves, La Rosa Negro. I don't have a face to go with it. At this point, I'm just going to turn you over to the first person who comes by for you with money. I need some way of getting food."

"That seems really risky. It also seems like a rookie mistake." Replied Fox. "From what I have heard of you Kursed, you're damn good at what you do, and by no measure, a rookie. Why would you do that?" She looked up from the floor and gave him a hard glance.

"When you're at the point I am with funds, the next step down is stealing it, or selling yourself on the streets. I'm not doing either. I'd be good at either, but the truth is, I like this job. It's one of the few things I have left, and I'm not giving it up if I can bloody well help it."

The two of them lay in silence for a moment. It was a hard subject. She was determined, and he could sympathize. He had known for a while what he wanted to do, and he did everything he could to hold on.

"Anything else for now?" she inquired. Fox thought, and then decided that tonight had been enough. He hadn't slept since he woke up in the cell on her ship. He needed rest.

"No. I think I'm done for the night." He yawned.

"Very well. See you in the morning." With that she turned over on her side, leaving Fox alone with his thoughts.

Whatever she thought, she was one strange creature in his mind.

**_A/N: Hey everybody. I'm back. This story has a plan now, so I can actually continue it. My other stuff, that's a different story. I'm sure some of you have noticed by now that I have Original Models cleared and on hiatus. If you didn't, you just did. I'm finally gonna be back more regularly, and I'm feeling better than ever._**

**_-800M23_**

**_P.S. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!_**


End file.
